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by Council of Australian Governments

Abstract

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) held its 19th meeting in Canberra on 13 April 2007. The key outcomes from the meeting relating to Indigenous issues are described below.

COAG resolved that the initial priority for joint action would focus on Indigenous children and early childhood development.

COAG requested a set of proposals from the Indigenous Generational Reform Working Group regarding cumulative generational reform.

COAG noted the urgent need to address data gaps to enable reliable evaluation of progress and transparent national and jurisdictional reporting on outcomes. COAG agreed to establish a jointly-funded clearing house for reliable evidence and information about best practice and success factors.

A progress report on the outcomes from the Summit on Violence and Child Abuse in Indigenous communities was provided to COAG.

As part of the National Reform Agenda, COAG agreed to allocate up to $40 million over four years to support the uptake of the Commonwealth's Work Skills Vouchers in regional and remote communities in Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory.